Kenduri Part 1

Aku baru je balik daripada Pulau Pinang. Pulau Pinang belah pulau, bukan yang kat Butterworth. Naik bas Transnasional kat Hentian Duta. Mali hantar gi sana sebab Abang aku dah gi Langkawi untuk business meeting. Masa cari tiket tu, abang kat kaunter tiket tu kata tiket untuk hari Khamis ke PP dah habis & tiket dari PP hari Ahad pun dah abis. Yang ada, hari Khamis petang tapi turun kat BW. Aku takmo turun kat tempat lain pastu kena carik bas lagi jadi aku ambiklah tiket hari Rabu malam, 12 tengah malam lagi, sebab nak maximizekan masa kat KL. Aku kena jumpa ejen hartanah untuk sign rental agreement untuk rumah aku.

Alhamdulillah, selepas 4 tahun, rumah aku dah ada tenant berbayar.. hehe..

The trip in the bus was very uncomfortable because I had to put my bag under my feet, leaving not much room for the feet themselves. It was good that I had a seat-mate who was alright, instead of the I-dread-sharing-this-seat-with-this-person person. I didn't sleep much. The bus stopped 4 times too, making it even more difficult to sleep due to the consistently lighted windows. We arrived at the Hentian Bas Sungai Nibong at almost 5am and I waited for over 2 hours for my parents to arrive.

You see, we stayed at my aunty's place for the duration and being guests, we do not know where the switches are. Since the car was in the compound, we had to wait for someone else from the house to wake up before we could open it. Furthermore, it's a practice there to lock all doors and grills at night for safety.

Nasib baik jugak masa tunggu bas kat Hentian Duta tu, aku terjumpa Faiz, staf AZSB yang aku pernah liase masa kat Hospital Ampang tu jadi sempat la kitorang borak-borak kat depan bus stand tu sesambil dia pun tunggu ayah dia datang ambik.

I've been to Enda Aouya's house before but for just a while. I vaguely remember how it looked like and where it was but when we got there again, my memory was refreshed so much so that I could drive on my own from the hotel (dinner - to be mentioned in part 2) to her house! Very good for someone who's only driven in PP once before.

So, on the first day of arrival, despite my groggyness out of not having enough sleep, made myself useful by cutting up some raw papayas and poked daun manggar on it to make the bunga manggars.

Q: What are you doing there?
A: I'm planting flowers.. *LAUGH!*

Q: What flower has the shortest lifespan?
A: Bunga Manggar, only for a day!

Q: What flower, the more you water it, the faster it dies?
A: Bunga Api!

Okay, enough of "Bunga" jokes.

Pastu sibuk-sibuk tolong susun kerusi meja for the kenduri kat rumah. Orang yang bagi sewa kerusi tu kata, since khemah bukan ambik dari diorang, diorang tak nak susun kerusi meja.. haha.. macam pondi pulak buat perangai.. :P

Aku sedar yang orang PP, eventhough a state-city-town in one place, much like KL, has a long distance to go before being equal to the standards that's available in KL's hospitality service/business. Kat sana, diorang ni take it for granted that everyone needs their services hence there is no need to make it super-fine, suffice to have a "good" service.

Hari akad tu, aku pun masih letih. Paksa kepala ni bangun pastu petik baju melayu yang nak pakai. Since aku nampak Nadir (adik pengantin) pakai kaler maroon, aku pun petik baju maroon aku dengan sampin tapi tak pakai lagi sebab ada kerja-kerja berat yang lebih diutamakan. Dah sudah angkat kerusi la, susun meja la, tanam pokok bunga la dan segala apa yang memerlukan kederat, aku masuk mandi pastu tukaq baju.

The procession went on smoothly with hosts and guests feeling very comfortable (to my opinion) and at home. The groom received the bride from the hands of her father. Adela (and Nadir's) father is German who came to marry, live and stay in Malaysia for the past 30+ years. I don't really know what he does but he's very artistic and speaks a multitude of languages, French and German being part of them.

It was very touching to hear him speak Malay during the akad.

Lepas semayang jemaat, ada kenduri pulak. Sebelum kenduri tu, ada bersanding. Aku memula ingat nak kental dengan BM maroon aku yang dipakai sejak pagi tapi terasa macam tak best sangat pakai baju tu jadi aku pun masuk, mandi seround pastu tukar kaler kehijauan pulak. Dah turun tu, membzkan diri lagi sebelum pengantin lelaki sampai.

Terlalu banyak event hari tu sampai tak terucap. Yang aku paling ingat, bila hari dah hampir tamat, kaki aku pun dah hampir lumat, berdenyut-denyut dia. Puas hati aku dengan cara semuanya berjalan, aku tertidur kat kerusi di anjung dengan lenanya selama setengah jam sebelum terjaga bila terdengan azan maghrib berkumandang. Kebetulan pulak Herizal (pengantin lelaki) datang dekat dengan masa tu jadi aku *ehem* test power dia, semayang maghrib sama-sama.

The night ended at dunno what time because I stayed awake playing bowling on my sister's phone.

Woke up kinda late the next morning.. but that's another story to tell.